evacuate

Universal Words verb 1 [VN] to move people from a place of danger to a safer place: Police evacuated nearby buildings. * Children were evacuated from London to escape the bombing. * Families were evacuated to safer parts of the city. 2 to move out of a place because of danger, and leave the place empty: [VN] Employees were urged to evacuate their offices immediately. * [V] Locals were told to evacuate. 3 [VN] (formal) to empty your bowels evacuation noun [U,C]: the emergency evacuation of thousands of people after the earthquake